Camera device, camera system, control device and program

ABSTRACT

A camera device includes a first information acquisition portion that acquires first information used to control a first area that is specified within a whole image captured by a camera portion, a second information acquisition portion that acquires second information used to control a second area that is specified within the whole image, a control portion that controls mechanical movement of the camera portion based on the first information input from a device having a control right of the first area, among the first information that can be input from a plurality of devices, and an image processing portion that acquires an image of the first area from the whole image captured by the camera portion, and extracts an image of the second area from within the first area based on the second information input from a device having a control right of the second area, among the second information that can be input from a plurality of devices.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to a camera device, a camera system, acontrol device and a program.

In related art, a camera control system is known in which a range thatcan be captured by a camera is displayed as a whole image, and animaging direction of the camera is controlled by an operation performedon the whole image. This camera control system is described, forexample, in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP 2005-354748A.Further, a camera control system is known in which sectionscorresponding to preset sections are displayed as thumbnails, and when adesired one of the thumbnails is selected, the imaging direction of thecamera is controlled to the corresponding preset section.

SUMMARY

However, in the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent ApplicationPublication No. JP 2005-354748A, as an image is acquired by performingmechanical controls, such as pan, tilt and zoom, on the camera terminaldevice side, it is assumed that there are limitations on a range of theimage that can be acquired. Further, when it is assumed that digitalpan, tilt and zoom operations etc. are performed to digitally extract adesired area from the whole image, it is difficult to perform thedigital pan, tilt and zoom operations and the mechanical pan, tilt andzoom operations in a mutually efficient manner.

In light of the foregoing, it is desirable to provide a camera device, acamera system, a control device and a program, which are novel andimproved, and which are capable of easily and efficiently performingdigital pan, tilt and zoom operations and mechanical pan, tilt and zoomoperations.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provideda camera device which includes a camera device including a firstinformation acquisition portion that acquires first information used tocontrol a first area that is specified within a whole image captured bya camera portion, a second information acquisition portion that acquiressecond information used to control a second area that is specifiedwithin the whole image, a control portion that controls mechanicalmovement of the camera portion based on the first information input froma device having a control right of the first area, among the firstinformation that can be input from a plurality of devices, and an imageprocessing portion that acquires an image of the first area from thewhole image captured by the camera portion, and extracts an image of thesecond area from within the first area based on the second informationinput from a device having a control right of the second area, among thesecond information that can be input from a plurality of devices.

Moreover, the camera device may further include a request informationacquisition portion that acquires request information of the controlright relating to one of the first area and the second area, and acontrol right assignment portion that assigns the control right based onthe request information when the control right is not assigned to one ofthe first area and the second area.

Moreover, when another device that is different from the device havingthe control right of the first area has the control right of the secondarea, the control portion may control the mechanical movement of thecamera portion in a range in which the first area is included in thesecond area subject to the control right of the other device.

Moreover, wherein when another device that is different from the devicehaving the control right of the second area has the control right of thefirst area, the image processing portion may extract the image of thesecond area from within the first area defined by the control of theother device.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, there isprovided a camera system in which a camera terminal device that capturesimages and a client terminal device that controls the camera terminaldevice are connected by a network. The camera terminal device mayinclude a first information acquisition portion that acquires firstinformation used to control a first area that is specified within awhole image captured by a camera portion, a second informationacquisition portion that acquires second information used to control asecond area that is specified within the whole image, a control portionthat controls mechanical movement of the camera portion based on thefirst information input from a device having a control right of thefirst area, among the first information that can be input from aplurality of devices, and an image processing portion that acquires animage of the first area from the whole image captured by the cameraportion, and extracts an image of the second area from within the firstarea based on the second information input from a device having acontrol right of the second area, among the second information that canbe input from a plurality of devices.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, there isprovided a control device which includes a first information acquisitionportion that acquires first information used to control a first areathat is specified within a whole image captured by a camera terminaldevice, a second information acquisition portion that acquires secondinformation used to control a second area that is specified within thewhole image, a transmitting portion that, when a control right tocontrol the first area is assigned, transmits to the camera terminaldevice control information used to control mechanical movement of acamera portion, based on the first information, and an image processingportion that, when a control right to control the second area isassigned, acquires an image of the first area from the whole imagecaptured by the camera portion, and extracts an image of the second areafrom within the first area based on the second information.

Moreover, when another device that is different from the device havingthe control right of the first area has the control right of the secondarea, the transmitting portion may transmit the control information usedto control the mechanical movement of the camera portion in a range inwhich the first area is included in the second area subject to thecontrol right of the other device.

Moreover, when another device that is different from the device havingthe control right of the second area has the control right of the firstarea, the image processing portion may extract the image of the secondarea from within the first area defined by the control of the otherdevice.

Moreover, the control device may further include a display portion thatdisplays both the whole image and a partial image corresponding to theimage of the second area, and also displays ranges corresponding to thefirst area and the second area within the whole image.

Moreover, based on one of the control right of the first area and thecontrol right of the second area, the display portion may display,within the whole image, a range in which one of the first area and thesecond area is controllable.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, there isprovided a program which includes instructions that command a computerto function as a unit that acquires first information used to control afirst area that is specified within a whole image captured by a cameraportion, a unit that acquires second information used to control asecond area that is specified within the whole image, a unit thatcontrols mechanical movement of the camera portion based on the firstinformation input from a device having a control right of the firstarea, among the first information that can be input from a plurality ofdevices, and a unit that acquires an image of the first area from thewhole image captured by the camera portion, and extracts an image of thesecond area from within the first area based on the second informationinput from a device having a control right of the second area, among thesecond information that can be input from a plurality of devices.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, there isprovided control device that is usable in a system including a cameradevice and a plurality of control devices that control a capturingdirection of the camera device, the control device which includes adisplay control portion that performs control such that a whole imagearea is displayed, the whole image area displaying a whole imagecaptured by the camera device, and a camera control portion thatcontrols the camera device such that the camera device captures adirection corresponding to a first area specified on the whole image.The display control portion may display a partial image area in which animage is displayed by enlarging a second area included in the firstarea, and performs control such that the first area and the second areaare displayed in different display states on the whole image. The firstarea may be allowed to be changed when having a first control right, andthe second area is allowed to be changed when having a second controlright.

The display control portion may perform control such that the secondarea is allowed to be changed when the second area is within a range ofthe first area.

Moreover, when the second area is operated and changed, when it isattempted to change the second area such that the second area exceeds arange of the first area, the display control portion may change thefirst area also and performs control such that the second area isincluded within the range of the first area, and the camera controlportion may perform control such that a direction corresponding to thechanged first area is captured.

Moreover, a plurality of control devices may exist simultaneously as thecontrol device having the second control right.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to easily andefficiently perform digital pan, tilt and zoom operations and mechanicalpan, tilt and zoom operations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram that shows an overall configuration of animaging system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram that illustrates processing performed bythe imaging system;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram that shows a state in which a plurality ofclient terminals are connected to a network;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram that shows display screens of each of theclient terminals;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram that shows a whole image and a partialimage that are shown on each of the client terminals;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram that illustrates an operation method 1 ofan image area R1 and an image area R2;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram that illustrates an operation method 2 ofthe image area R1 and the image area R2;

FIG. 8 is a diagram that schematically shows a configuration in a casein which a cameral terminal device only has a mechanical zoom function;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram that shows the whole image on each of theclient terminal devices;

FIG. 10A is a schematic diagram that illustrates the operation method 1of the image area R1 and the image area R2 according to a secondembodiment;

FIG. 10B is a schematic diagram that illustrates the operation method 1of the image area R1 and the image area R2 according to the secondembodiment;

FIG. 10C is a schematic diagram that illustrates the operation method 1of the image area R1 and the image area R2 according to the secondembodiment;

FIG. 10D is a schematic diagram that illustrates the operation method 1of the image area R1 and the image area R2 according to the secondembodiment;

FIG. 10E is a schematic diagram that illustrates the operation method 1of the image area R1 and the image area R2 according to the secondembodiment;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram that illustrates the operation method 2of the image area R1 and the image area R2 according to the secondembodiment;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram that shows a case in which one of theclient terminals has a control right for both the image area R1 and theimage area R2 and another of the client terminals does not have acontrol right;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram that shows a case in which one of theclient terminals has the control right for both the image area R1 andthe image area R2 and one of the other client terminals has a controlright for digital PTZ;

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram that shows a case in which the clientterminal has a control right for mechanical VIZ and the other clientterminal has the control right for the digital PTZ;

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram that shows a case in which the clientterminal has the control right for the digital PTZ, and the other clientterminal has the control right for the mechanical PTZ; and

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram that shows a state in which two differentvideos, video 1 and video 2, corresponding to the image area R2 aretransmitted to each of the client terminals.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT(S)

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed in detail with reference to the appended drawings. Note that,in this specification and the appended drawings, structural elementsthat have substantially the same function and structure are denoted withthe same reference numerals, and repeated explanation of thesestructural elements is omitted.

Note that the description will be given in the order shown below.

1. First embodiment

(1) Configuration example of imaging system

(2) Processing of present embodiment

(3) Operation method 1

(4) Operation method 2

2. Second embodiment

(1) Overview of second embodiment

(2) Operation method 1

(3) Operation method 2

3. Third embodiment

(1) Display and operation when control right is assigned

(2) Example of assigning control right

(3) Processing relating to assignment of control right

1. First Embodiment

(1) Configuration Example of Imaging System

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram that shows an overall configuration of animaging system 500 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.The imaging system 500 includes a camera terminal device (1P camera) 100and a plurality of client terminals 200. The camera terminal device 100and each of the client terminals 200 are connected via a network 300,such as the Internet. In addition, a server 400 is connected to thenetwork 300 and the server 400 is connected via the network 300 to thecamera terminal device 100 and the plurality of client terminals 200.

The camera terminal device 100 is, for example, a monitoring camera thatis placed indoors or outdoors, and the camera terminal device 100 isprovided with a camera portion 102, which includes a lens optical systemthat forms an image of a subject and an imaging element thatphotoelectrically converts the formed subject image. The camera terminaldevice 100 is additionally provided with an image processing portion104, a transmitting/receiving portion 106, a control portion 108, asetting portion 110 and a timer 112.

The client terminal 200 is, for example, a device such as a personalcomputer (PC). The client terminal 200 is provided with atransmitting/receiving portion 202, a control portion 204, an inputportion 206 and a display portion 208. Note that each of the functionalblocks of the camera terminal device 100 and the client terminal 200shown in FIG. 1 are formed by hardware (circuits) or by an arithmeticprocessing unit such as a central processing unit (CPU), and software (aprogram) that causes the arithmetic processing unit to function. In thelatter case, the program can be stored in a memory provided in thecamera terminal device 100 or in the client terminal 200, or the programcan be stored in a recording medium, such as an external memory that isinserted from outside. The server 400 is provided with similar imageprocessing functions as those of the camera terminal device 100, and theserver 400 can record images acquired by the camera terminal device 100.The server 400 may also be provided with functions of the clientterminal 200. Furthermore, the functions of the server 400 may beintegrated with the camera terminal device 100.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram that illustrates processing performed bythe imaging system 500. Here, as an example, the camera terminal device100 is placed in an indoor conference room. As shown in FIG. 2, thecamera portion 102 of the camera terminal device 100 captures, as awhole image, a relatively wide range within the conference room.

The whole image is, for example, transmitted to the client terminals 200as still image data, but the disclosure is not limited to this example.Live video may be transmitted to the client terminals 200, and each ofthe client terminals 200 receiving the live video may extract stillimages. A user can use the client terminal 200 to specify a desiredrange from within the whole image. For example, when an area A shown inFIG. 2 is specified by the client terminal 200, the camera terminaldevice 100 encodes live video data of the area A and transmits theencoded data to the client terminal 200.

More specifically, a whole image of a still image (not live video inthis case) that is transmitted in advance from the camera terminaldevice 100 is displayed on the display portion 208 of the clientterminal 200 by processing performed by the control portion 204. Whenthe user operates the input portion 206 of the client terminal 200 andspecifies the selected area A from within the whole image, informationof the area A is transmitted to the control portion 204. Based on acommand by the control portion 204, the transmitting/receiving portion202 of the client terminal 200 transmits the information of the area Ato the camera terminal device 100. Further, based on a command by thecontrol portion 204, the information of the area A (corresponding to animage area R2 that will be explained later) is displayed within thewhole image on the display portion 208.

When the transmitting/receiving portion 106 of the camera terminaldevice 100 receives, via the network 300, the information relating tothe area A (second information as referred to in the claims), ittransmits the information to the control portion 108. The controlportion 108 issues a command to the image processing portion 104 toextract and perform encoding processing on only the area A section fromthe image (live video) transmitted from the camera portion 102. Thetransmitting/receiving portion 106 receives the live video of theencoded area A from the image processing portion 104 and transmits thelive video to the client terminal 200 via the network 300.

When the transmitting/receiving portion 202 of the client terminal 200receives the live video of the area A from the camera terminal device100, it transmits the data to an image processing portion 203. In theimage processing portion 203, the information of the area A is decodedand the control portion 204 conducts processing to perform display onthe display portion 208. Note that, in this case, the area A correspondsto the image area R2 that will be explained later.

In this way, the user operates the client terminal 200 and specifies aselected area from within the whole image, and can thus digitallyperform operations that are equivalent to performing mechanical pan,tilt and zoom (PTZ) operations. As a result, the video of the selectedarea can be acquired.

In particular, recently, capacity of the network 300 has expanded, andit is thus possible to transmit high definition video with a highernumber of pixels. However, when all data of the whole image is sent aslive video, the data volume is enormous. By transferring only necessarydata of the area specified on the user side, as in the presentembodiment, it is possible to view high definition video of the selectedarea.

It should be noted that extraction of the area A using the imageprocessing may be performed on the client terminal 200 side. In thiscase, the image processing portion 203 (which corresponds to the imageprocessing portion 104) is provided in the client terminal 200, and thecamera terminal device 100 encodes an image (live video) transmittedfrom the camera portion 102 and transmits the encoded data from thetransmitting/receiving portion 106 to the network 300. When the useroperates the input portion 206 of the client terminal 200 and specifiesthe selected area A from within the whole image, the control portion 204commands the image processing portion 203 to extract the area A. Whenthe transmitting/receiving portion 202 of the client terminal 200receives the live video data, it transmits the live video data to theimage processing portion 203 and the area A is extracted by the imageprocessing portion 203. The image of the extracted area A is transmittedfrom the control portion 204 to the display portion 208 and displayed onthe display portion 208.

Further, in the system of the present embodiment, in addition to thedigital pan, tilt and zoom operations, mechanical pan, tilt and zoomoperations can be performed. As shown in FIG. 2, the camera terminaldevice 100 is provided with a mechanical mechanism that can change adirection of an optical axis of the imaging optical system in pan andtilt directions. In addition, the camera terminal device 100 is providedwith a mechanical mechanism that can move a zoom optical system of theimaging optical system in the optical axis direction. These mechanicalmechanisms are included in the camera portion 102 shown in FIG. 2, andare formed by drive mechanisms, such as a motor and gears. Themechanical pan, tilt and zoom operations can be performed by the cameraportion 102 of the camera terminal device 100 driving these mechanicalmechanisms in accordance with commands from the control portion 108.

Similarly to the above-described digital pan, tilt and zoom operations,the mechanical pan, tilt and zoom operations can be operated from theclient terminal 200 side by specifying an area within the whole image onthe client terminal 200.

More specifically, when the user operates the input portion 206 of theclient terminal 200 and specifies the selected area A from within thewhole image, the transmitting/receiving portion 202 of the clientterminal 200 transmits information (first information) of the area A tothe camera terminal device 100 based on a command from the controlportion 204. Furthermore, based on a command from the control portion204, the information of the area A (corresponding to an image area R1 tobe explained later) is displayed within the whole image on the displayportion 208.

When the transmitting/receiving portion 106 of the camera terminaldevice 100 receives, via the network 300, the information relating tothe area A (the first information), it transmits the information to thecontrol portion 108. Based on the information of the area A, the controlportion 108 issues a command for the mechanical pan, tilt and zoompositions of the camera portion 102 to the camera portion 102. At thistime, the control portion 108 can issue the command for the pan, tiltand zoom positions in accordance with a position of the area A withinthe whole image and in accordance with a size of the area A. The cameraportion 102 controls the mechanical pan, tilt and zoom positions basedon the information of the area A. Note that, in this case, the area Acorresponds to the image area R1 that will be explained later.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram that shows a state in which a plurality ofthe client terminals 200 are connected to the network 300. Each of theclient terminals 200 shown in FIG. 3 can perform both mechanical PTZ,operations and digital PTZ operations by specifying a selected area fromwithin the whole image. It should be noted that, in this case, it isassumed that commands from each of the client terminals 200 conflict,and this situation will be described in more detail in a thirdembodiment.

(2) Processing of Present Embodiment

Next, processing according to the present embodiment will be explained.FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram that shows display screens of each of theclient terminals 200. The above-described whole image and a partialimage are both displayed on each of the client terminals 200. In FIG. 4,a common whole image is displayed on all of the client terminals 200,and an individual partial image is displayed per each of the clientterminals 200.

The whole image is a wide-range image captured in advance by the cameraterminal device 100, and is, for example, a panorama image that iscaptured of a widest range over which mechanical pan, tilt and zoomoperations are possible by the camera terminal device 100. The wholeimage can be acquired, for example, by performing mechanical PTZoperations of the camera terminal device 100 to capture a plurality ofimages with different directions of the optical axis and by connectingthe plurality of images.

On the other hand, each of the partial images is an image of aparticular range that is specified from within the whole image by theuser of each of the client terminals 200, and it is possible to select adifferent range per each of the client terminals 200. FIG. 4 is adiagram that schematically shows a state in which the whole image andthe partial images are shown on each of terminals of clients A, B and Ccorresponding to each of the client terminals 200. In an example in FIG.4, a partial image corresponding to the area A of the whole image isdisplayed on the terminal of the client A, and a partial imagecorresponding to an area B of the whole image is displayed on theterminal of the client B. Similarly to the client A, the partial imagecorresponding to the area A of the whole image is displayed on theterminal of the client C.

Both the whole image and the partial image are displayed on the displayportion 208 of each of the terminals of the clients. In the exampleshown in FIG. 4, the partial image of the client A and the whole imageare displayed on the terminal of the client A, and the partial images ofthe other clients are not displayed. However, in a case of anadministrator or the like, the partial images of the other clients maybe displayed on the terminal of the client A. Further, as will bedescribed later, it is possible to display areas corresponding to thepartial images of the other clients within the whole image displayed onthe terminal of the client A. In this way, the areas of the partialimages of the other clients can be ascertained on the terminal of theclient A.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram that shows the whole image and the partialimage displayed on each of the client terminals 200. As shown in FIG. 5,the image area R1 defined by the mechanical PTZ and the image area R2defined by the digital PTZ are both displayed on the whole imagedisplayed on each of the client terminals 200. The image area R1 definedby the mechanical PTZ indicates an image area specified by mechanicalmovement of the camera terminal device 100 and indicates an image areain a state in which digital PTZ operations are not performed. In otherwords, the image area R1 defined by the mechanical PTZ corresponds to animage area that is displayed when the pan, tilt and zoom positionsaccording to mechanical processing by the camera terminal device 100 areunchanged. Thus, when the mechanical pan, tilt and zoom positions of thecamera terminal device 100 are changed, a range of the image area R1defined by the mechanical PTZ is changed.

As described above with reference to FIG. 3, in the system of thepresent embodiment, the plurality of client terminals 200 are connectedto the single camera terminal device 100. Therefore, the image area R1defined by the mechanical PTZ corresponds to the mechanical pan, tiltand zoom positions of the single camera terminal device 100 and is thesame range on each of the client terminals 200. Thus, the same imagearea R1 is displayed within the whole image displayed on each of theclient terminals 200.

On the other hand, the image area R2 defined by the digital PTZcorresponds to an image area that is a section extracted by digitaloperations from within the image area R1 defined by the mechanical PTZ.As a result, in principle, the image area R2 defined by the digital PTZis a narrower range than the image area R1 defined by the mechanicalPTZ. When the image area R2 defined by the digital PTZ is specifiedwithin the image area R1 defined by the mechanical PTZ, the image areaR2 is extracted from within the image area R1 and displayed, by imageprocessing performed by the camera terminal device 100 or the clientterminal 200. The partial images shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 correspondto the digital PTZ image area R2, which is extracted, in accordance withspecification by the user, from within the image area R1 defined by themechanical PTZ. The control portion 204 of the client terminal 200 mayperform control to execute display on the display portion 208 such thatdisplay states of the image area R1 and the image area R2 are different.For example, display may be performed such that outer contours of theimage area R1 and the image area R2 are different colors. In this way,the user can visually distinguish between the image area R1 and theimage area R2.

As shown in FIG. 5, within the whole image displayed on each of theclient terminals 200, along with the image area R1 that is common to allof the client terminals 200 and that is defined by the mechanical PTZ,the image area R2 that is defined by the digital PTZ and specified fromwithin the image area R1 is also displayed. By operating the inputportion 206 (which is a mouse, a keyboard or the like) of the clientterminal 200, the user can specify the image area R1 and the image areaR2 from within the whole image, and can change the image area R1 and theimage area R2 to a selected range. Hereinafter, the specification andchanging of the image area R1 and the image area R2 will be explained inmore detail.

(3) Operation Method 1

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram that illustrates an operation method 1 ofthe image area R1 and the image area R2. In the operation method 1, inorder to specify the image area R1 and the image area R2, two types ofPTZ operations are performed individually. Hereinafter, a case will beexplained in which the user performs the PTZ operations by operation ofa mouse.

In a case in which the user specifies the image area R2 and performs thedigital PTZ operations, when operation of the image area R2 is performedwithin a display area of the image area R1, operations that change theimage area R2 are performed while the image area R1 remains in a fixedstate. When the user sets the image area R2 within the range of theimage area R1, the image area R1 is not changed, and the mechanical PTZpositions of the camera terminal device 100 are not changed. Thus, whenthe user selects the image area R2 within the range of the image areaR1, the image area R2 specified from within the image area R1 by theimage processing is extracted and displayed as the partial image withoutperforming mechanical operations. In such a case, when the image area R1is not changed, even if another user, such as the client B shown in FIG.4, is displaying the image of the different image area R2 as the partialimage, the other user can continue to see the partial image withoutproblem.

Furthermore, when the user specifies the image area R1 and performs thePTZ operations, as long as the display area of the image area R2 iswithin an imaging range, the digital PT is fixed and mechanical PToperations are performed to change the image area R1.

Next, in a case in which the user specifies the image area R2 andperforms digital PT operations, when pan and tilt are performed outsidethe display area of the mechanical PT operations, namely, when the usertries to expand the specification of the image area R2 beyond the rangeof the image area R1, mechanical PT operations are performed in concertwith the digital PT operations, and the image area R1 is caused to bechanged such that the image area R2 is within the image area R1. In thisway, when the user operates the image area R2 and performs PTZoperations outside the display area of the image area R1, the imageoutside the range of the image area R1 is specified, and thus operationsare performed to change the mechanical PTZ positions of the cameraterminal device 100.

In addition, as a separate example, when the image area R2 is operated,the PT operations of the image area R1 may be performed regardless ofwhether or not the image area R2 is within the image area R1.

Furthermore, in the case in which the user specifies the image area R1and performs the mechanical PT operations, when the digital PT imagearea R2 is outside the display area of the image area R1, the digital PToperations are performed in concert with the mechanical PT operations,thus causing the image area R2 to be changed such that the image area R2is within the image area R1.

By the above-described operations, the user can perform the mechanicalPT operations or the digital PT operations by specifying the image areaR1 and the image area R2, respectively. In addition, in a case in whichoperation of one of the image area R1 and the image area R2 makes itdifficult to display the other image area, by changing the other imagearea in concert, it is possible to constantly set the image area R2within the image area R1 by changing the other image area in concert.

The specification and the changing of the image area R1 and the imagearea R2 is achieved by the user using the mouse to perform click anddrag operations on the whole image. For example, in a state in which theimage area R1 (or the image area R2) is selected, by clicking a selectedpoint within the whole image, the user can move a center of the imagearea R1 (or the image area R2) to the position of the clicked point.Alternatively, in a state in which the image area R1 (or the image areaR2) is selected, the user can perform a drag operation to cause theimage area R1 (or the image area R2) to move to a selected position.

In addition, when a selected point is clicked on the whole image, if theclicked point is within the image area R1, the center of the image areaR2 (digital PT) can be aligned with the clicked position while the imagearea R1 (mechanical PT) is fixed. If the clicked point is outside thedisplay area of the image area R1, both the mechanical and digitaloperations can be performed such that the centers of both the mechanicaland digital display areas are aligned with the clicked position.

In this case, the center of the digital PT image area R2 is aligned withthe clicked position while the center of the image area R1 defined bythe mechanical PT need not be the clicked position. Alternatively, themechanical PT may be performed such that the image area R2 just fitsinto the image area R1. In this way, it is possible to reduce to aminimum an amount of operation of the mechanical PT.

With respect to the zoom operations, in principle, when the mechanicalor digital zoom operations are specified (when the image area R1 or theimage area R2 is specified), zoom control is performed only for the zoomon the specified side similarly to the above-described PT operations.

Further, when the mechanical or digital zoom operations are notspecified, when a command is issued to perform the zoom operation, firstthe mechanical zoom is performed within a range in which the mechanicalzoom is possible, thus changing the image area R1. By doing this, boththe images within the image area R1 and within the image area R2 areenlarged, and the range corresponding to the image area R2 is displayedas the partial image. Then, when the mechanical zoom has reached amaximum in the telephoto (zoom in) direction (when the mechanical zoomhas reached the telephoto end), processing is performed to furtherenlarge the range of the image area R2 using the digital zoom.

In the operation method 1, when the image area R2 is specified and theimage area R2 is moved, as the image area R1 is only moved over aminimum range, an impact on the other client terminal 200 can beminimized when the other client terminal 200 performs the digital PTZoperations.

(4) Operation Method 2

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram that illustrates an operation method 2 ofthe image area R1 and the image area R2. In the operation method 2, themechanical PTZ operations and the digital PTZ operations are caused tooperate in concert with each other. In FIG. 7, even in a case in whichone of either the image area R1 (the mechanical PT) and the image areaR2 (the digital PT) is specified and the area is moved, a positionalrelationship between the image area R1 and the image area R2 ismaintained in a same state, and the image area R1 and the image area R2are moved in parallel.

For example, in a state in which the image area R1 (or the image areaR2) is selected, if the user clicks a selected point in the whole image,it is possible to move the center of the image area R2 to the clickedpoint while maintaining the positional relationship between the imagearea R1 and the image area R2 in the same state.

Further, when performing the zoom operation also, if one of either theimage area R1 (the mechanical PT) and the image area R2 (the digital PT)is specified and the area is moved, the zoom operation is performed suchthat a scale ratio between the image area R1 and the image area R2 isconstant.

In the operation method 2, when the camera terminal device 100 istracking and capturing a given object, as the image area R1 and theimage area R2 move together, the tracked object can be tracked reliablywithin the image area R1. In addition, even if the tracked objecttemporarily moves outside the image area R2, as the image area R1 isbeing moved together with the image area R2, by constantly recording theimage area R1, it is possible to subsequently acquire the object thatcould not be tracked.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, it is possiblefor the client terminal 200 to specify the mechanical zoom operation andthe digital zoom operation and perform a selected control. As a result,in the system in which the mechanical and digital zoom operations arepossible, it is possible to acquire an image of a desired range.

2. Second Embodiment

(1) Overview of Second Embodiment

Next, a second embodiment of the present disclosure will be explained.In the second embodiment, the camera terminal device 100 does not havemechanical pan and tilt functions and only has a mechanical zoom(optical zoom) function. FIG. 8 is a diagram that schematically shows aconfiguration of the camera terminal device 100 when the camera terminaldevice 100 only has the mechanical zoom function.

As shown in FIG. 8, digital PTZ operations are performed within videothat is acquired by a camera lens of the camera terminal device 100. Inthis case, in accordance with a command from the client terminal 200side, a part of the video (area A shown in FIG. 8) acquired from thecamera lens of the camera terminal device 100 is extracted andtransmitted to the client terminal 200. Note that it is also possiblethat, when the video is transmitted, all of the video acquired from thecamera lens is transmitted to the client terminal 200, and the area A isextracted from all of the video and displayed by the receiving sideclient terminal 200.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram that shows the whole image on each of theclient terminals 200. Similarly to the first embodiment, along with theimage area R1 defined by the mechanical Z, the image area R2 that isspecified within the image area R1 and that is defined by the digitalPTZ is also displayed within the whole image. In the second embodiment,the mechanical pan and tilt operations cannot be performed, and thus theimage area R1 defined by the mechanical PTZ is constantly displayed inthe center of the whole image. Note that, only the whole image is shownin FIG. 9, but, similarly to FIG. 5, the whole image and the partialimage are both displayed on the display portion 208 of each of theclient terminals 200.

(2) Operation Method 1

FIG. 10A to FIG. 10E are schematic diagrams that illustrate theoperation method 1 of the image area R1 and the image area R2 accordingto the second embodiment. In the operation method 1, specification ofthe image area R1 defined by the mechanical optical zoom operation andspecification of the image area R2 defined by the digital PTZ operationsare performed individually.

First, in FIG. 10A, if the digital PT operations of the image area R2are within the display area of the mechanical zoom of the image area R1,the digital PTZ, operations of the image area R2 are performed while theimage area R1 is in a fixed state. Further, FIG. 10B shows thespecification of the image area R1 defined by the optical zoomoperation. In FIG. 10B, in a range in which the image area R2 defined bythe digital PTZ operations is included in the image area R1, the imagearea R1 can be changed by the mechanical PT operations within a rangeindicated by an arrow.

FIG. 10C shows a case in which, when the image area R2 is changed by thedigital PTZ operations, an operation is performed in which it isattempted to extend the image area R2 outside the display area of theimage area R1. In this case, an operation is performed in concert inwhich the optical zoom operation is used to expand the image area R1such that the image area R2 is included in the image area R1.

FIG. 10D shows a case in which, when a display ratio of the image areaR1 of the optical zoom becomes larger than a predetermined value withrespect to the whole image, the mechanical zoom moves to the telephotoside in accordance with the image area R2. In this case, when the imagearea R2 is moved by the digital PT operations in a direction of thecenter of the whole image, the optical zoom is performed such that thedisplay ratio approaches the above-described predetermined value by theoptical zoom zooming on the telephoto side within the range in which theimage area R2 is included in the image area R1. In this way, it ispossible to inhibit the area of the image area R1 defined by the opticalzoom becoming more extended than necessary, and thus improve definition.

FIG. 10E shows a case in which, while the image area R1 is beingoperated using the optical zoom operation, a part of the image area R2defined by the digital PTZ extends outside the image area R1. In thiscase, digital PT operations are performed in concert such that the imagearea R2 is within the image area R1.

Further, with respect to the zoom operation also, even when one ofeither the image area R1 (optical zoom) and the image area R2 (digitalzoom) is specified and the specified area is moved, the zoom operationis performed such that a scale ratio between the image area R1 and theimage area R2 is maintained at a constant value.

In addition, when the zoom operation is performed, first, the opticalzoom is performed within the range of the optical zoom. Then, when theoptical zoom has zoomed in to the maximum in the telephoto direction, ifthe zoom operation is further performed in the telephoto direction, thedigital zoom is performed.

(3) Operation Method 2

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram that illustrates the operation method 2of the image area R1 and the image area R2 according to the secondembodiment. In the operation method 2, the optical zoom and the digitalzoom can be performed in concert with each other. In FIG. 11, the zoomoperation is performed such that the scale ratio between the image areaR1 defined by the optical zoom and the image area R2 defined by thedigital zoom is maintained at a constant value.

In this case, even if either the mechanical zoom or the digital zoom isspecified, the centers of the image area R1 and the image area R2 arerespectively fixed, and the zoom is performed while the scale ratiobetween the image area R1 and the image area R2 is constant.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, even when thecamera terminal device 100 does not have the mechanical pan and tiltfunctions, it is possible to acquire an image of a desired range usingthe optical zoom function of the camera terminal device 100 and thedigital PTZ operations.

3. Third Embodiment

(1) Display and Operation when Control Right is Assigned

Next, a third embodiment of the present disclosure will be explained.The third embodiment relates to a case when there is conflict betweencommands from each of the above-described client terminals 200, asmentioned above. In this case, in the third embodiment, operation rightis assigned to one of the plurality of client terminals 200 and theclient terminal 200 that has the operation right performs the PTZoperations. In other words, in the third embodiment, only the clientterminal 200 that has the operation right exclusively controls the PTZoperations.

In the present embodiment also, similarly to the first and the secondembodiments, both the mechanical PTZ operations and the digital PTZoperations can be performed. For that reason, in the present embodiment,exclusive operation right can be assigned with respect to both themechanical PTZ operations and the digital PTZ operations.

In this case, as the single camera terminal device 100 is present withinthe system, the control right for the mechanical PTZ operations can onlybe held by a selected one of the client terminals 200. On the otherhand, it is possible to assign the control right for the digital PTZoperations to the one selected client terminal 200 only or to assign thecontrol right for the digital PTZ operations to the plurality of clientterminals 200. Hereinafter, this will be explained in more detail withreference to FIG. 12 to FIG. 15.

FIG. 12 shows a case in which a single one of client terminals 200 hasthe control right for both the image area R1 and the image area R2, andanother of the client terminals 200 does not have the control right. Inthis case, as shown in FIG. 12, the client terminal 200 that has thecontrol right for the image area R1 and the image area R2 can performboth the mechanical PTZ operations and the digital PTZ operations andcan freely operate both the image area R1 and the image area R2. In thiscase, it is possible to freely operate the image area R1 using themechanical PTZ operations. Further, it is possible to freely operatesetting of the image area R2 in the image area R1 using the digital PTZoperations.

Here, when the image area R1 is changed by the client terminal 200 thathas the control right for the mechanical PTZ operations, the otherclient terminal 200 (which does not have the control right for themechanical PTZ operations and only has the control right for the digitalPTZ operations) can operate the image area R2 within the changed imagearea R1.

In this way, when the single client terminal 200 has the control rightfor both the mechanical PTZ operations and the digital PTZ operations,the image area R1 and the image area R2 can be freely moved, as shown inFIG. 12.

FIG. 13 shows a case in which the single client terminal 200 has thecontrol right for both the image area R1 and the image area R2 andanother of the client terminals 200 (in this case, a single one of theother client terminals 200) has the control right for the digital PTZoperations.

In this case, if the mechanical PTZ operations are unrestricted, theother client terminal 200 that has the control right for the digital PTZoperations cannot perform desired digital PTZ operations. For thatreason, the image area R2 (shown as an image area R2 a in FIG. 13),which is defined by the digital PTZ operations for which the otherclient terminal 200 has the control right, is displayed on the clientterminal 200 that has the control right for the mechanical PTZoperations. Then, in order to ensure the display of the image area R2 aon the other client terminal 200, the image area R2 a and a range thatincludes the image area R2 a (a rectangular range C indicated by brokenlines in FIG. 13) are displayed on the client terminal 200 that has thecontrol right for the mechanical PTZ operations and the mechanical PTZoperations are possible only within the range of the broken lines. Byputting in place restrictions on the control by the client terminal 200that has the control right for the mechanical PTZ operations in thisway, even when the mechanical PTZ operations are performed, the imagearea R2 defined by the digital PTZ operations for which the other clientterminal 200 has the control right is constantly included in the imagearea R1, and thus the other client terminal 200 can continue to acquirethe partial image of the image area R2 a.

Similarly to FIG. 12, in the case shown in FIG. 13 also, on the clientterminal 200 that has the control right for the mechanical PTZoperations, the image area R2 can be specified within the image area R1using the digital PTZ operations and can be acquired as the partialimage. Further, as in FIG. 13, there is a case in which the singleclient terminal 200 has the control right for both the image areas R1and R2 and the other client terminal 200 has the control right for theimage area R2, both the client terminals 200 thus having the controlright for the image area R2. In this case, it is possible to allow freecontrol on the side of the single client terminal 200, regardless ofwhether or not the other client terminal 200 has the control right forthe image area R2. In this way, for example, when video of a certainlocation is wished to be viewed urgently, as the other client terminal200 has the control right, it is possible to avoid not being able toperform mechanical PTZ operations in that area.

Note that, as it is normally not necessary to display the image area R2a and the range C indicated by the broken lines, it is also possiblethat the image area R2 a and the range C are displayed on the clientterminal 200 that has the control right for the mechanical PTZoperations only when the user performs the PTZ operations.

Further, as the image area R1 cannot be made larger than the range ofthe rectangular range C, an area outside the range C becomes an areaover which control is not assigned. For that reason, as shown in FIG.13, the area outside the range C is displayed in white (alternatively,this may be gray display, or the like), such that the area that is notassigned control can be visually recognized.

FIG. 14 shows a case in which the client terminal 200 has the controlright for the mechanical PTZ operations and the other client terminal200 has the control right for the digital PTZ operations. In this case,a range in which the mechanical PTZ operations can be performed is arange (the rectangular range C indicated by broken lines in FIG. 14)that includes the image area R2 (indicated as the image area R2 a inFIG. 14), for which the control right for the digital PTZ operations isowned by the other client terminal 200.

In the example shown in FIG. 14 also, as it is normally not necessary todisplay the image area R2 a and the range C indicated by the brokenlines, it is also possible that the image area R2 a and the range C aredisplayed on the client terminal 200 that has the control right for themechanical PTZ operations only when the user performs the PTZoperations.

Further, in the example shown in FIG. 14 also, the area outside therange C is displayed in white (alternatively, this may be gray displayor the like), such that the area that is not assigned control can bevisually recognized.

FIG. 15 shows a case in which the client terminal 200 has the controlright for the digital PTZ operations and the other client terminal 200has the control right for the mechanical PTZ operations. In this case, arange in which operation is possible of the image area R2 that isdefined by the digital PTZ operations is within the mechanical PTZ range(the image area R1) that is set by the other client terminal 200. Theimage area R1 is changed by operation by the other client terminal 200that has the control right for the mechanical PTZ operations. Note that,when the other client terminal 200 has the control right for themechanical PTZ operations, the image of the image area R1 can be viewedat a later stage, for example, by recording an image (an image apartfrom the image area R2) that cannot be displayed as live video in thepartial image area in advance in the server 400.

(2) Example of Assigning Control Right

As described above, with respect to the image area R2 defined by thedigital PTZ operations, by transmitting a plurality of image streamsfrom the camera terminal device 100 via the network 300, the pluralityof different client terminals 200 can acquire videos of the differentimage areas R2. FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram that shows a state inwhich two different videos (video 1 and video 2) corresponding to theimage area R2 are transmitted to each of the client terminals 200. Hereit is assumed, for example, that the video 1 corresponds to the imagearea R2 shown in FIG. 13 and the video 2 corresponds to the image areaR2 a shown in FIG. 13.

As shown in FIG. 16, when the two videos (the video 1 and the video 2)can be operated, when control for either the video 1 or the video 2 isavailable, an available video control right is assigned to the nextclient terminal 200 that enters into operation of the video.

For example, when the control right for both the video 1 and the video 2is available, the first client terminal 200 to enter (here, an operator1) can obtain the control right for one of either the video 1 or thevideo 2. Here it is assumed that the operator 1 obtains the controlright for the video 1 and operates the video 1. During a time in whichthe operator 1 holds the control right for the video 1, in accordancewith the above-described processing, the operator 1 can freely operate arange of the video 1 and can acquire live video of a desired area.

Next, in a state in which the operator 1 holds the control right for thevideo 1, a newly entered client terminal 200 (here, an operator 2)obtains the control right for the video 2, as the control right for thevideo 2 is available. In this way, during a time in which the operator 2holds the control right for the video 2, the operator 2 can freelyoperate a range of the video 2 and can acquire live video of a desiredarea. It should be noted that when the control right for the video 1 isnot available, even if the control right for the video 2 is available,it is also possible to wait until the control right for the video 1becomes available.

Next, in a state in which the operator 1 holds the control right for thevideo 1, and the operator 2 holds the control right for the video 2, thenext client terminal 200 to enter (here, an operator 3) cannot obtainthe control right as the control right for both the video 1 and thevideo 2 is held by the operator 1 and the operator 2. For that reason,the operator 3 is on stand-by until the control right for the video 1 orthe video 2 becomes available. As with the terminal of the client Cshown in FIG. 4, while on stand-by, the client terminal 200 normallysees the same video as the other client terminal 200 that has control,such as the terminal of the client A. In addition, when an operator 4enters after that, control is acquired in order from the client terminal200 entering at an earlier time, when control becomes available.

The time during which the control right is held can be set in advance,for example. The timer 112 of the camera terminal device 100 counts atime that each of the operators respectively holds the control right,and when a period of time that is determined in advance elapses, thecontrol right of the operator is cancelled. As an example, when theperiod of time to hold the control right is 15 minutes, in theabove-described example, when 15 minutes has elapsed from when theoperator 1 obtains the control right for the video 1, control right forthe video 1 by the operator 1 is cancelled. As a result, it is possiblefor the operator 3 that is on stand-by to acquire the control right forthe video 1 and operate the video 1. Further, when 15 minutes haselapsed from when the operator 2 obtains the control right for the video2, the control right of the video 2 by the operator 2 is cancelled. As aresult, it is possible for the operator 4 that is on stand-by to acquirethe control right for the video 2 and operate the video 2.

A similar procedure can be performed when the control right is assignedwith respect to the mechanical image area R1 also. However, it should benoted that as there is the single camera terminal device 100 in thesystem, the control right for the image area R1 is assigned to only oneof the client terminals 200. When, for example, the control right forthe image area R1 is available, the first client terminal 200 to enter(here, the operator 1) can acquire the control right for the image areaR1. The client terminal 200 (here, the operator 2) that enters in thestate in which the operator 1 holds the control right for the image areaR1 is on stand-by until the control right for the image area R1 isavailable.

(3) Processing Relating to Assignment of Control Right

When attempting to acquire the control right, the user performs anoperation from the client terminal 200 to select the image area R1 orthe image area R2. A case explained here is when a chosen one of theclient terminals 200 shown in FIG. 15 acquires the control right for thevideo 1 of the image area R2. The operation in this case is performed,for example, by using the input portion 206, such as a mouse, a keyboardor the like, to specify an outer frame of the video 1 displayed on thedisplay portion 208. However, the present disclosure is not limited tothis example. In response to the above-described operation, thetransmitting/receiving portion 202 transmits to the camera terminaldevice 100 information (control request information) indicating that theclient terminal 200 is trying to acquire the control right for the video1. Note that when the client terminal 200 is trying to acquire thecontrol right for the video 2, information (control request information)indicating that the client terminal 200 is trying to acquire the controlright for the video 2 is transmitted to the camera terminal device 100.

The control request information is transmitted via the network 300 tothe camera terminal device 100, is received by thetransmitting/receiving portion 106 and is then transmitted to thecontrol portion 108. When the control right has not been assigned forthe video 1 or of the video 2 for which the control request is issued,the control portion 108 assigns the control right to the client terminal200 that transmitted the control request information and records the IPaddress of the client terminal 200. In this way, when the controlportion 108 receives information specifying the area of the video 1 fromthe client terminal 200 to which the control right is assigned, thecontrol portion 108 extracts a section corresponding to the specifiedarea from the whole image (live video) that is transmitted from thecamera portion 102, and issues a command to encode the extracted sectionof the area only. The transmitting/receiving portion 106 receives livevideo of the area A on which encoding processing has been performed fromthe image processing portion 104 and transmits, via the network 300, theencoded area A to the client terminal 200 that has the control right.

Assignment of the control right for the mechanical image area R1 can beperformed in a similar manner. The user performs an operation from theclient terminal 200 to select the image area R1. The operation isperformed, for example, by using the input portion 206, such as a mouse,a keyboard or the like, to specify an outer frame of the image area R1displayed on the display portion 208. However, the present disclosure isnot limited to this example. In response to the above-describedoperation, the transmitting/receiving portion 202 transmits to thecamera terminal device 100 information (control request information)indicating that the client terminal 200 is trying to acquire the controlright for the image area R1.

The control request information is transmitted via the network 300 tothe camera terminal device 100, is received by thetransmitting/receiving portion 106 and is then transmitted to thecontrol portion 108. When the control right has not been assigned forthe image area R1 for which the control request is issued, the controlportion 108 assigns the control right to the client terminal 200 thattransmitted the control request information and records the IP addressof the client terminal 200. In this way, when the control portion 108receives information specifying the area of the image area R1 from theclient terminal 200 to which the control right is assigned, the controlportion 108 mechanically controls the pan, tilt and zoom of the cameraportion 102. The camera portion 102 thus transmits video correspondingto the image area R1 to the image processing portion 104. From among thelive video transmitted from the camera portion 102, the image processingportion 104 extracts a section corresponding to the area specified bythe image area R2 and performs encoding processing on the extractedsection of the area only. The transmitting/receiving portion 106receives the live video of the image area R2 on which encodingprocessing has been performed from the image processing portion 104 andtransmits, via the network 300, the encoded image area R2 to the clientterminal 200 that has the control right. Note that, when the video isextracted by the image processing portion 203 of the client terminal200, after the live video acquired by the camera portion 102 has beenencoded, the encoded live video is transmitted to the client terminal200 via the network 300 and the video is extracted by the imageprocessing portion 203.

It should be noted that, settings of the control according to the thirdembodiment can be applied to both the first embodiment and the secondembodiment.

According to the above-described third embodiment, depending on thepresence or absence of respective control rights for the mechanical PTZoperations and the digital PTZ operations, it is possible to optimallycontrol the image area R1 and the image area R2 on the client terminal200.

The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described indetail above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, thepresent disclosure is not limited to the examples described above. Itshould be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occurdepending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they arewithin the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

The present disclosure contains subject matter related to that disclosedin Japanese Priority Patent Application JP 2010-171345 filed in theJapan Patent Office on Jul. 30, 2010, the entire content of which ishereby incorporated by reference.

What is claimed is:
 1. A camera device comprising: a first informationacquisition portion that acquires first information used to control afirst area that is specified within a first image captured by a cameraportion; a second information acquisition portion that acquires secondinformation used to control a second area that is specified within thefirst image; a control portion that controls mechanical movement of thecamera portion based on the first information input from a device havinga control right of the first area, among the first information that canbe input from a plurality of devices; and an image processing portionthat acquires an image of the first area from the first image capturedby the camera portion, and extracts an image of the second area withinthe first area based on the second information input from a devicehaving a control right of the second area, among the second informationthat can be input from a plurality of devices.
 2. The camera deviceaccording to claim 1, further comprising: a request informationacquisition portion that acquires request information of the controlright relating to one of the first area and the second area; and acontrol right assignment portion that assigns the control right based onthe request information when the control right is not assigned to one ofthe first area and the second area.
 3. The camera device according toclaim 1, wherein when another device that is different from the devicehaving the control right of the first area has the control right of thesecond area, the control portion controls the mechanical movement of thecamera portion in a range in which the first area is included in thesecond area subject to the control right of the other device.
 4. Thecamera device according to claim 1, wherein when another device that isdifferent from the device having the control right of the second areahas the control right of the first area, the image processing portionextracts the image of the second area from within the first area definedby the control of the other device.
 5. A camera system in which a cameraterminal device that captures images and a client terminal device thatcontrols the camera terminal device are connected by a network, whereinthe camera terminal device comprises: a first information acquisitionportion that acquires first information used to control a first areathat is specified within a first image captured by a camera portion; asecond information acquisition portion that acquires second informationused to control a second area that is specified within the first image;a control portion that controls mechanical movement of the cameraportion based on the first information input from a device having acontrol right of the first area, among the first information that can beinput from a plurality of devices; and an image processing portion thatacquires an image of the first area from the first image captured by thecamera portion, and extracts an image of the second area within thefirst area based on the second information input from a device having acontrol right of the second area, among the second information that canbe input from a plurality of devices.
 6. A control device comprising: afirst information acquisition portion that acquires first informationused to control a first area that is specified within a whole imagecaptured by a camera terminal device; a second information acquisitionportion that acquires second information used to control a second areathat is specified within the whole image; a transmitting portion that,when a control right to control the first area is assigned, transmits tothe camera terminal device control information used to controlmechanical movement of a camera portion, based on the first information;and an image processing portion that, when a control right to controlthe second area is assigned, acquires an image of the first area fromthe whole image captured by the camera portion, and extracts an image ofthe second area from within the first area based on the secondinformation.
 7. The control device according to claim 6, wherein whenanother device that is different from the device having the controlright of the first area has the control right of the second area, thetransmitting portion transmits the control information used to controlthe mechanical movement of the camera portion in a range in which thefirst area is included in the second area subject to the control rightof the other device.
 8. The control device according to claim 6, whereinwhen another device that is different from the device having the controlright of the second area has the control right of the first area, theimage processing portion extracts the image of the second area fromwithin the first area defined by the control of the other device.
 9. Thecontrol device according to claim 6, further comprising: a displayportion that displays both the first image and a partial imagecorresponding to the image of the second area, and also displays rangescorresponding to the first area and the second area within the firstimage.
 10. The control device according to claim 9, wherein based on oneof the control right of the first area and the control right of thesecond area, the display portion displays, within the first image, arange in which one of the first area and the second area iscontrollable.
 11. A ion-trnsitary con readable storage medium on whichis stored a program that comprises instructions that command a computerto function as: a unit that acquires first information used to control afirst area that is specified within a first image captured by a cameraportion; a unit that acquires second information used to control asecond area that is specified within the first image; a unit thatcontrols mechanical movement of the camera portion based on the firstinformation input from a device having a control right of the firstarea, among the first information that can be input from a plurality ofdevices; and a unit that acquires an image of the first area from thefirst image captured by the camera portion, and extracts an image of thesecond area within the first area based on the second information inputfrom a device having a control right of the second area, among thesecond information that can be input from a plurality of devices.
 12. Acontrol device that is usable in a system including a camera device anda plurality of control devices that control the camera device, thecontrol device comprising: a display control portion that performscontrol such that a first image area is displayed, the first image areadisplaying a first image captured by the camera device; and a cameracontrol portion that controls the camera device such that the cameradevice captures a direction corresponding to a first area specified onthe first image, wherein the display control portion displays a partialimage area in which an image is displayed by enlarging a second areaincluded in the first area, and performs control such that the firstarea and the second area are displayed in different display states onthe first image, and wherein the first area is allowed to be changedwhen having a first control right, and the second area is allowed to bechanged when having a second control right.
 13. The control deviceaccording to claim 12, wherein the display control portion performscontrol such that the second area is allowed to be changed when thesecond area is within a range of the first area.
 14. The control deviceaccording to claim 12, wherein when the second area is operated andchanged, when it is attempted to change the second area such that thesecond area exceeds a range of the first area, the display controlportion changes the first area also and performs control such that thesecond area is included within the range of the first area, and whereinthe camera control portion performs control such that a directioncorresponding to the changed first area is captured.
 15. The controldevice according to claim 12, wherein a plurality of control devicesexist simultaneously as the control device having the second controlright.
 16. A method for controlling an imaging device, comprising:acquiring first information to control a first area that is specifiedwithin a first image captured by an imaging device; acquiring secondinformation to control a second area that is specified within the firstimage; controlling mechanical movement of the imaging device based onthe first information input from a device having a control right of thefirst area, among the first information that can be input from aplurality of devices; and acquiring an image of the first area from thefirst image captured by the imaging device, and extracting an image ofthe second area within the first area based on the second informationinput from a device having a control right of the second area, among thesecond information that can be input from a plurality of devices.